The Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic expressed great dismay at the moment when the Angolan people pay their last tribute to their leader José Eduardo dos Santos, "the one who for 38 years led the destiny" of the country, this Saturday in Praça da República, in Luanda, where the funeral ceremonies began.
"With wisdom, commitment and a lot of mastery, he managed to bring us definitive peace, unfortunately after his death we live in days of enormous effort from the judicial point of view to be able to have possession of his mortal remains", he said, regarding the legal dispute fought in Barcelona by two factions of the family, one led by Tchizé dos Santos, the other by the widow Ana Paula dos Santos, supported by the Angolan regime.
"Today we are here to witness what was the effort in which justice won, the family won and the State fulfilled its duty and obligation", underlined Francisco Furtado, considering that the Angolan people "will render the well-deserved tribute" to the former President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
On the fact that the eldest children were not present, namely Isabel dos Santos, who was dealing with Angolan justice, and Tchizé dos Santos, a critic of President João Lourenço and who supported the candidate of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA ) to the presidency, Adalberto Costa Júnior, said they missed the "last and best opportunity" to pay tribute to his father.
"The opportunity they were given when we were with them on the 9th of July (following the death of José Eduardo dos Santos, which took place on the 8th of July in Barcelona). There was no common sense on their part and on the other child's part, only three [of eight children] at the time showed the possibility of, the next day, talking to us again and they did not", said the general.
"Justice led the process and reason won, the family won and the state fulfilled its duty," he added.
The Minister of the Interior, Eugénio Laborinho, another of the members of the executive present on Saturday morning at the ceremonies, highlighted the importance of the "leader who, after independence, replaced President António Agostinho Neto at a difficult time, at a young age", Angola's first head of state after independence in 1975.
"In his 38 years in power, he was always tireless, he united Angola and its children, he made a great movement of national reconciliation at a very difficult time of war against UNITA. He managed, in the way he was, patient, serene, to unite all the Angolans", praised Eugénio Laborinho, considering that "it is an irreparable loss".
The minister declined to comment on the family disunity that followed the death of the former head of state, claiming that he has been "dedicated" to monitoring the elections in terms of public order and security.
The urn with the body of José Eduardo dos Santos arrived this Saturday at Praça da República, where the António Agostinho Neto Memorial, dedicated to the first President of Angola, is located, at 10 am, in a procession without crowds.
Relatives of José Eduardo dos Santos, in particular his widow, Ana Paula dos Santos, and their 3 children in common, were in the tent where the tribute is being held, as were several members of the executive, leaders of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and friends of the former president.
Outside, in the huge room with many empty chairs, there were a few hundred people who came to say goodbye to the man who ruled the country with an iron fist for 38 years.
Contrary to what happened in life, when on the day of José Eduardo dos Santos' birthday, August 28, everyone wanted to be present, making it a day of celebration in which many people joined in the celebration, this Saturday the ceremonies were marked by some lack of adherence and popular emotion.
The funerals also took place in the post-election aftermath in which citizens were still waiting for the final results of Wednesday's general elections, with preliminary data pointing to a victory for the MPLA, already contested by UNITA.
